


I will be your family

by orphan_account



Category: Minecraft (Video Game)
Genre: Cross-Posted on Wattpad, Dave and Wilbur and Phil actually care, Gen, Kidnapping, because I'm cool, dang this is sad, maybe because he disappears for a few months, this is a new leaf for him!, wow Tommy becomes apologetic
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-13
Updated: 2020-08-13
Packaged: 2021-03-06 02:54:20
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 10
Words: 11,073
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25876225
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: Tommy was kidnapped nearly twenty-four hours before he was supposed to participate in the eleventh MC Championships; by the same person who murdered his parents. Techno seeks answers. Tommy seeks to escape.
Relationships: Dave | Technoblade & TommyInnit, Toby Smith | Tubbo & TommyInnit, Wilbur Soot & TommyInnit
Comments: 109
Kudos: 1750





	1. One

**Author's Note:**

> In this fic, we're gonna pretend the Coronavirus doesn't exist.
> 
> Also, Tommy is fifteen, not sixteen, and was born in 2005.
> 
> This fic consists of a bunch of kinda short (like 500-1000 words) chapters about a kidnapping and an online friendship that turns into a family. 
> 
> Thank you for reading!
> 
> I'm going through a writers block rn so I'm just posting a bunch of stories that I kinda said NO! to, but don't really care at this point.

**_~Techno's POV~_ ** **| November 21st, 2020**

The eleventh Minecraft Championships, taking place on November 21st, 2020.

Techno was supposed to be teamed with Wilbur, Phil, and Tommy - they finally had let the four of them be teamed again. He'd been prepared to bully the sixteen-year-old to kingdom come, like usual, even though he saw Tommy as an annoying little brother - to take the words from Wilbur's mouth.

But when it was twelve, and the Pink Piglets - a name revived from the dead by the Noxcrew Admins - weren't ready, the Minecraft Championships started.

Tommy never showed up. Never started streaming. They spammed his twitter - except for Techno, who still had him blocked - his discord, and tried contacting him in every way they knew.

He didn't respond.

They assumed he'd overslept, and they told each other that they'd be very mad when he finally showed up.

Even though Techno had a nagging feeling something _seriously_ wasn't right. Tommy adored him, and he took it straight to his head. The blonde-haired kid wouldn't miss a chance to be teamed with him for _anything_. And he would've said if he was sick or he had some other plans.

Still, the championships continued without him. And the Pink Piglets were down to three people.

Somehow they made it to the dodgeball round, facing the four people on the _Dream Team_ , also known as the Azure Antelopes.

Dream. George. Sapnap. And their fourth and final member - Plumbella.

Techno didn't hate Dream; they were merely on the opposite teams. They had a fake hatred for each other, and Techno really respected the speedrunner. He knew that Dream respected him a bit as well, even though he'd never heard Dream say it to _him_. He'd poured over the vods of Dream, George, and Sapnap, looking at what they were good at, what they were bad at, and what they practiced the most.

His phone buzzed.

Techno ignored it as he glanced at his chat.

_Stream Chat:_

<newopig> TECHNOSUPPORT

<cityneedsleep> WE WIN THESE

<Warrior_Darken> TECHNOSUPPORT

<RangerArya> TECHNOSUPPORT

<Vegan_Skeppy> DREAM TEAM

He shook his head as his phone buzzed again, returning his attention to the dodgeball game. It was tied two to two - whoever won would win the MC Championships.

He heard Wilbur groan over discord as he was shot by George, but Phil quickly countered with an ecstatic "YESSSSS!" when he shot Dream. Techno shook his head and aimed his bow, quickly hitting Sapnap with the other arrow.

Dream and Plumbella were the last two left, the girl backing off as she let Dream pick up the arrows. Techno cursed internally.

"Please don't hit," he muttered out loud, shifting his fingers and tapping the keys as he and Phil darted across the already-small half of their court.

Phil _did_ curse as Dream hit him, and Techno breathed a sigh of relief as the arrow flew over his character's head, embedding itself in the wall and falling into the water.

"Come on, Techno, you got this," Wilbur urged him on.

"We win these," Techno agreed as he grabbed the arrows, using his right mouse button to draw back the arrow and aiming it. At the last second, he switched his target from Dream to Plumbella and cheered when he scored a direct hit and the girl was eliminated.

The chat went crazy - both chats, in-game and on his stream, went crazy. Techno aimed with his next arrow, but missed as it sailed harmlessly past Dream's quick-moving character. He backed away as Dream picked up the next two arrows, breathing a sigh of relief as the first one missed.

"You've got this," Wilbur continued, a spark of fear in his voice. Indeed, Techno's heart was racing, and he could feel sweat lacing down his back.

"YESS!" Phil screamed as Dream's next arrow flew wide, the green-skinned character quick to start his dance around the court that was still shrinking smaller and smaller.

Techno picked up the arrows, sure he had the win in hand. He could take his time. It was him versus Dream.

"Our long-awaited meeting has come at last," he muttered, quoting Star Wars as he waited for an opening.

His phone buzzed, and Techno took his hand off his mouse to flip it over, wondering who was bothering him in such a consequential way.

**_Diamond Nerd Boy 3:13pm_**

Techno, you're gonna want to see this

<https:www.insertlinkhere.net>

**_DiamondNerdBoy 3:16pm_**

no seriously

Somehow, Techno

felt like this was necessary, and took his hands off the keyboard to unlock his phone and click on the link that Skeppy had sent. He glanced up to see confusion from the chats, and Wilbur and Philza both asking him questions.

It was a redirection to a news site.

**_Tom Jennings Missing: County in an Uproar as Murderer Flees Home with Boy in Tow_ **

His heart _sank_. No. No...

But as he scrolled down, he learned the truth.

_Reports from neighbors give life to a strange man in a black cloak fleeing the scene of the crime with an unconscious figure; found out to be Tom Jennings, the son of the two adults found dead at the scene, later confirmed to be his parents._

No. No.

_No further information has been found about the future whereabouts of Tom Jennings, and we can only pray that the boy will be found soon. If any people have any tips they want to send, please contact the police at 605–475–6959._

He looked up in time to see his character slip into the water, the words of Dream's team name flashing across the screen. His chat was screaming at him. Dimly, he could hear Phil and Wilbur yelling at him as well, asking what was wrong and why he had stopped.

"I - " he stuttered, dropping the phone as his voice broke. Wilbur and Phil instantly went quiet. "I...I can't."

He ended the stream.

Ended the call.

Ignored the notifications he got within the next five seconds.

He went to the chat that he shared with the other contestants of MC Championships and pasted the link that Zak had sent him. Then he shut off his PC.

Curled up in his chair.

And even though he would never admit it...he cried.

Tommy had been _kidnapped_. His parents had been _murdered_ by the same person that had taken the person akin to his little brother.

Tommy could be dead, at the bottom of a river. He could be getting tortured.

He didn't care about the stupid tournament anymore.

Only about the future of his friend.

* * *

**_~Clay's POV~_ ** **| November 21st, 2020**

"YESSSSSSSSSSSS!" George screamed in Clay's ear as Techno's character fell into the water of the dodgeball court.

Clay only frowned. Techno had stopped moving ten seconds ago, freezing. He switched to Techno's stream and unmuted it in time to see it _end_ , suddenly.

"What?" he muttered. This wasn't like Technoblade at all. His chat was ecstatic, talking in all caps. Congratulating him on winning.

"What's wrong, Dream?" Sapnap said over the happy noises of Plumbella and George.

Clay only shook his head in disbelief as the chat praised him on his win. Only, it didn't feel much like a win. What had happened to Technoblade?

He saw one of the other members of Techno's team log off suddenly, just in time to receive a notification from discord. Tommy hadn't shown up - that had surprised everyone. Clay had been a bit worried when that had happened, but he had quickly forgotten it until both his team and Techno's had reached the dodgeball portion.

Techno's profile was dark, showing he was offline. But a link blinked at Dream, and he furrowed his eyebrows as he clicked it, ignoring the questions asked by his teammates and the stream chat, wondering why it had gone dark.

**_Tom Jennings Missing: County in an Uproar as Murderer Flees Home with Boy in Tow_ **

"Shit," he breathed, surprising everyone with the swear word that escaped his lips.

"What is it?" Plumbella asked.

There was a bit of silence as Clay reopened his Minecraft tab just in time to see three words pop up in chat. Three words that explained Techno's obscure behavior. That explained everything.

_< WilburSoot> _TommyInnit was kidnapped.

**_WilburSoot has left the game._**

_< Sapnap> _What?

_< GeorgeNotFound> _????

_< Dream> _Click on the link Techno sent in the discord.

Clay ended his stream. He saw many others do the same as they all realized what had happened - what _was_ happening. What could be happening at this very moment.

"Tommy was kidnapped," he repeated numbly. "By a murderer."


	2. Two

**_~Tommy's POV~_ ** **| January 3rd, 2021**  
  
  


He had been in the dark room for a total of forty-four days. He'd counted it on the calendar that had been buried under the bed, from 1995. Sure, the days weren't exact, so he had no idea what day of the week it was, but he knew the number of days between two dates.

Forty-four days.

Six weeks and two days.

One month and fourteen days.

Six Saturdays; six Sundays (though that probably wasn't exact, as the calendar was from 1995-1996).

One-thousand fifty-six...no, one-thousand sixty-four, now. It was around eight in the morning. So one-thousand and sixty-four hours.

Sixty-three thousand, eight hundred and forty minutes. Oops, eight-hundred, and forty-one now.

Three million, eight hundred and thirty thousand, four hundred, and sixty-seven seconds.

Three million, eight hundred and thirty thousand, four hundred, and sixty-nine seconds.

Ha.

He had a notebook and a pencil. Boredom had overtaken him and he'd done hours of math trying to figure out exactly how long he'd been here. There was an unlimited amount of paper and pencils in the one-bedroomed dark room that he was always in. That and a single lightbulb in the ceiling hidden behind a row of unbreakable glass.

He'd tried. Multiple times.

There weren't any windows. Just a ticking clock, a calendar, notebooks, pencils...and Tommy himself.

He had to admit he'd gotten pretty decent at drawing as well. He'd managed to convince his captor to give him some glue back in November and had covered the expanse of an entire stone wall in paper. He was drawing a mural. Of himself. Of his online friends.

Tommy curled up on the mattress, rolling over. He didn't want to get up. There wouldn't be anything to do even if he got up except draw, and his hand hurt. There wasn't anything to do whilst lying down except think.

Tears pricked the corners of his eyes as his mind went to the one place that he'd thought about so much. His parents.

His _dead_ parents.

Tommy squeezed his eyes shut.

Yes, his parents were dead. They'd been dead for forty-four days.

**_Get over it._**

_But it hurts._

**_Get. Over. It._**

_But they're my_ parents _._

**_You are stronger than this._**

Tommy shook his head, shaking away the inner conversation he was having. He wondered what was happening in the outside world - if anyone had cared he'd vanished. If the world had moved on without him. If anyone was looking for him. If anyone _cared_ enough to look at him.

If Technoblade had unblocked him.

He smiled against the lumpy mattress. His smile quickly faded. Techno had a life. He'd probably quickly forgotten about him. _They'd_ quickly forgotten about him. Nobody would care if he returned.

_No,_ Tommy told himself fiercely. _They care about you._

Until they didn't.

_It's only been forty-four days._

But they acted like they didn't want him around. They acted like they didn't want him there.

How could he have been so blind?

_NO!_ he screamed at himself. _It was just your banter. It was just..._

He trailed off as the door barged open to reveal his captor. His uncle.

His _family_ that wasn't really so much of a family anymore. Tommy leveled his gaze to glare at his uncle.

"I talked to the police today," his uncle drawled, tossing him a granola bar. "They don't have any leads." Tommy was silent. "I told them how it was so sad that _poor Tommy_ hasn't been found yet."

"Shut up," Tommy hissed. "You don't get to call me that."

"I can call you whatever the hell I want," his uncle snapped, walking closer. Tommy scooted until his back hit the hard stone wall of the basement. "You are _my_ property."

Tommy's throat constricted for a brief second. "I am not _your_ property," he said. This was the longest conversation he'd had with someone in a good two weeks. "I'm a _person_. People can't be properties."

"Your parents are dead, Tommy," his uncle hissed.

"No thanks to you," Tommy spat. One of his uncle's _lackeys_ had murdered his parents.

Wrong thing to say. Tommy cringed as he saw his uncle's eyes flash, and then pain filled his body. He cried out, reaching up a hand to his face, which felt numb and burning at the touch.

He must've blacked out, because when he opened his eyes, his uncle was gone, and the door was locked. Again.


	3. Three

**_~Tommy's POV~_ ** **| January 28th, 2021**   
  
  


Tommy stepped back from his creation, pride filling him. He was done. He was _done_.

After exactly sixty-nine days in captivity, he'd finished his wall of art.

He felt a small smile growing over his face as he looked at it. It was him - him and his friends, in their Minecraft skins, laughing and facing the 'camera', much like a photo.

Him. Technoblade. Tubbo. Wilbur. Philza. Dream. George. Sapnap. Skeppy. BadBoyHalo. A6D. Pigicial. TimeDeo. His Skyblock Co-op members. So many people. Perhaps thirty. Carefully shaded in and drawn to a realistic scale in the style he'd developed over the months that had followed his capture.

It was nearly one in the morning.

For the first time in months, Tommy felt _pride_ fill him as he admired his work of art. It wasn't perfect. He could see the imperfections.

But there was no such thing as perfection. He knew that. He'd learned that long ago.

Tommy reached into his pocket and pulled out the last of the granola bar that his uncle had given to him hours ago. He shoved it in his mouth and relished the taste of the food going into his stomach. He knew that if he were to look into a mirror, he'd look scrawny and ill with not enough nourishment. His hair was itching his neck, and fell over his face when he didn't wipe it away. His shirt and pants were filled with dust and grime, and he was sure he smelled horrible since he had only showered once since he'd been kidnapped.

He wanted out of there.

Tommy walked over to the door and dug his fingers between the door and the wall, in the tiny gap. It was a pull door, but there was no handle on his side. He sighed when he found it locked again. There was no way he was ever getting out. He'd scoured the room for something, _anything_ , to jam between the door, but had never found anything, not even the tiniest scrap of metal. He sharpened his pencils using a flat portion of the wall and hours of his time.

Tommy plopped down on his mattress, unsure of what to do. He was too riled up to be tired. He glanced at the door again, and then down at his leg, where a thin scar remained. It burned at the memory.

He'd tried to escape in December, that the only thing that had been his prize had been pain and stitches he'd had to do himself, with his uncle carefully watching over him. He was scared. Scared to try to escape again.

His uncle had warned him that if he ever tried to escape again, he'd lose a finger.

He didn't want to lose a finger. He was behind two different locked doors, the one that he was staring at having a deadbolt and a lock that was locked every day. He hadn't gotten beyond the second one, but he believed it was just a lock. It was two secret rooms, one within the other. If anyone searched his house, they would find the first secret room - but who would look for a second secret room beyond the first?

Not anybody. Not when there had been a tip-off and the police had searched the house. Tommy had been gagged and bound only minutes previously, and he wanted to scream, to shout that he was there as he heard them through the wall. Tears had poured down his face when they'd finally left. 

Tommy stared at the door some more. Numbly, he realized he was twisting one of his many pencils in his hand.

He'd never really thought of truly escaping in a good while. After the bruises and the burns, he'd dismissed ever trying. The knife slice had been the final straw back in December.

But now, after finishing his wall drawing, Tommy felt himself considering trying again.

_No,_ he said firmly. _You'll just get caught._

**_But what if you don't?_**

_I can't risk it._

**_But what if we do escape?_**

_We won't._

He was so sure of it. He wouldn't escape.

He was too afraid of the pain that would surely follow if he got caught. He was too afraid of ending up in the same position his parents did.

He was so _afraid_. He shouldn't be. He told himself this over and over. Freedom was worth dying over.

But he was a fifteen-year-old boy, and he was so afraid to die.


	4. Four

**_~Techno's POV~_ ** **| February 20th, 2021**  
  
  


Techno stared numbly at his computer. In about five hours, he was supposed to start the next Minecraft Championships with Wilbur. Phil had been placed on a different team, but the Admins of Noxcrew had let Dream and George team with him.

There was still no lead on Tommy. None at all. Not a _single_ clue.

He felt bile rise in his throat at the thought of the fifteen-year-old at the hands of a murderer.

Social media had gone crazy at the boy's disappearance. Most YouTubers, including Techno, had spoken out about it. Tommy had reached an astonishing one million subscribers in just a few months. Techno smirked at the thought. He could already imagine how Tommy would react to that.

_TommyInnit, last online eighty-nine days, seven hours ago._

Techno buried his face in his hands and tried not to cry. It had been so long since the kid's disappearance. Surely he couldn't still be sad.

But Tommy's story hadn't ended yet. Nobody knew whether he was alive or dead.

Techno prayed that he was alive, but really, his hope was fraying. The kid hadn't been seen since. People were scared. _He_ was scared. He may have joked around with Tommy about blocking him on Twitter - he was unblocked now, and Techno sometimes scrolled through it - but he had loved the kid like a brother. An annoying little brother, sure, but a family nonetheless. A friend.

A ding sounded from discord.  
  
  


**_WilburSoot_**

_You ready to start practice rounds?_  
  
  


No. No, he wasn't. He and many others weren't ever ready. He knew for a fact that Wilbur poured over Tommy's videos, even though he never said anything. They'd all been a family.

Techno sighed.  
  
  


**_Technoblade_**

_yesss_  
  
  


Please be alive, Tommy.


	5. Five

**_~Tommy's POV~_ ** **| February 20th, 2021**   
  
  


Eighty-eight days.

He was so done. So tired of this life. He'd been captive for nearly one-third of a year. He'd started a drawing on another wall, but drawing was harder now. Was more unfulfilling.

His uncle came in later that day.

"Tommy," he said.

"Don't call me that," Tommy said automatically in a tired voice. It was hard to speak.

His uncle rolled his eyes. "You better behave, boy, or I swear to all the gods you will regret it."

Tommy was confused. _What?_

"I'm shipping you off to Saudi Arabia," his uncle continued. "We have a plane flight in four hours." He reached over and grabbed the collar of Tommy's shirt, lifting off his hunched position on the mattress. "You _better_ behave at the airport."

Tommy swallowed. He did not doubt that his uncle would kill him if he didn't behave, even if his uncle got arrested in the end. "Yes, sir."

Why Saudi Arabia? He had no idea.

* * *

Tommy sat in the backseat of the car, his feet bound; the ropes to his feet attached to the seat in which his uncle sat, driving to the Stansted airport. The windows were bulletproof. He believed his uncle on that. It was around seven in the evening, and the sun had set.

The unfamiliar neighborhood whizzed by, and Tommy shifted. It had been so long since he'd seen natural sunlight - even if it was merely the moon. He saw people on the sidewalks, talking to their friends, walking their dogs - families.

Outings he could never have again.

He swallowed thickly.

His parents were dead. He turned away from the window as he watched a brown-haired child run to his parents, hugging them. He shouldn't be jealous. It wasn't the kid's fault that his parents were alive.

He _shouldn't_ be jealous.

But nevertheless, he was incredibly jealous.

He shifted his feet, and his breath caught as the robes bound around his caught on something under his uncle's car seat. Glancing up, he saw that his uncle was concentrating on driving. Tommy pretended to shift as if he was uncomfortable, really glancing down to see what the ropes around his ankles had caught around.

He coughed instead of cheering out loud. It was a sharp piece of metal embedded in the ground.

Tommy glanced up again.

His uncle was still concentrating on driving.

He was scared. Terrified. But he had to try. He'd been a coward before. He knew that if he left England, he'd never return. He'd probably die in Saudi Arabia. He didn't even have any baggage. Just himself, though his uncle had forced him to take a shower and put on a change of clothes before he left, just so he didn't stick out as a dirty smelly kid at the airport. Also, his hair was brown with a shoddy dye job, and he was wearing contacts that changed his hair color to brown as well.

He had no idea how he was going to get past Customs, but he was sure his uncle had an explanation. Not that he would ask him.

Tommy shifted again, as if he was uncomfortable, really moving his legs so the rope cut against the metal. And again.

And again.

"Tommy?"

Tommy's head whipped up so fast, fear filling him at the dangerous tone in his uncle's voice. "Y - yes?"

"Stop moving."

Tommy winced. "The seat itches."

"Well, stop."

Tommy was quieter as he finished cutting through the ropes, his feet finally free. He knew for a fact that the child lock was on - that had been one of his first escape attempts. "Can you roll down the window? It's stuffy."

"No."

"Pleassseee," Tommy whined, channeling his inner TommyInnit-is-annoying-Technoblade voice. "It's really hotttt."

His uncle sighed, and Tommy flinched, expecting to be hit. But the window rolled down, and Tommy realized his uncle must really be tired if he didn't double-check the ropes.

The wind blew on his face, and Tommy took a deep breath, scanning the length of the window. He really hated being six foot two right now, even if he got the women at school. _Had_ got the women at school.

Okay, no, he hadn't, but he told the internet that.

He held back a smirk when he realized that with his malnourishment, he would fit. He would have one chance. He glanced back at his uncle, and at the gun on the dashboard. He had one chance, and he was sure he would die if he failed.

One chance.

But at least his friends, if they cared, would know what happened to him. At least his disappearance wouldn't be forever.

And if he failed, then he'd see his parents again. In whatever lay beyond.

Tommy glanced out the window again, realizing with relief that nobody else was in the streets. There wouldn't be a risk of accidentally having another person die in his place because of his uncle.

The car came to a stop sign, and Tommy took his chance, thrusting his head out the window and tumbling out.

He ran.

He heard the car door open, and a shot fire, a burning sensation filling his shoulder; nearly falling down. It hurt like hell.

His head hurt. His vision was cloudy. Pure adrenaline kept him moving for the corner around the next house.

_Zigzag. Run in zigzags._

Tommy did. He heard two more fires before he rounded the neighborhood corner and heard his uncle's screamed curse word.

He knew that his uncle would be coming for him.

Tommy turned onto a culdesac, and ran to the nearest door, even as he heard the car he'd been trapped in shoot past the street he'd run up.

He banged on the door, praying, glancing over his shoulder.

His arm hurt. He leaned against the doorframe as his vision swirled, threatening to give out. He was free. The owner of the house just had to answer.

The door opened.


	6. Six

**_~Wilbur's POV~_ ** **| February 20th, 2021**   
  
  


As Wilbur practiced the MC Championships on a test world around fifteen minutes before he was supposed to start streaming, his mind began to stray. He'd noticed that Techno was quite a bit quieter than normal, and had been for the past three months, nearly. He had a good idea of why, as well.

"Parkour Warrior is the best," Dream remarked as he finished the course, turning around and watching Wilbur struggle, in last place.

"It's _not_ ," he shot back. A loud crack, much like a firework, sounded. Two more quickly followed. Huh. Someone must be using firecrackers.

"That's because you're not good at it," Techno said in his usual monotone voice, but it was a bit late. He'd been thinking of something else. Wilbur didn't comment on it. Hadn't commented on it in nearly three months.

"You guys ready to start streaming?" George questioned.

Wilbur opened his mouth to respond, but a knock on the door stopped him. "One second, someone knocked on my door."

"Don't get kidnapped," George teased.

" _George_ ," Dream hissed.

Wilbur rolled his eyes as he took off his headset. It was probably a neighbor asking for sugar or something. Perhaps a delivery man...no, it was too late for that, at around 7:50 at night. 

He opened the door.

Who he saw was not the person he suspected he would see. A tall, brown-haired, brown-eyed boy that seemed oddly familiar. His white shirt was stained with...was that blood?

Why did he seem so familiar?

The boy looked up at him, and Wilbur realized why.

"Help me," Tommy croaked. He didn't seem to recognize Wilbur.

Wilbur caught him as he passed out, wincing as he felt blood roll onto his hands.

Holy _shit_. Tommy was _here_. He wasn't dead.

And by the looks of it, he'd been shot.

Wilbur picked the kid up with a bit of effort. He'd been shot. 

So that was what that firecracker noise had been.

Wilbur lugged Tommy to his car, the kid breathing shallowly - though, getting shot would do that. He regretted leaving his computer, and Discord, open, but Tommy was more important. He shot a quick text to Noxcrew telling them he wouldn't be participating. Wouldn't want people to think he ended up like Tommy.

He glanced over at the boy who sat in the car seat next to him unconscious, bleeding out over his leather seats.

"Come on, Tommy," he muttered. "Please make it to the hospital."

Luckily there was one nearby, and Wilbur nearly crashed three times as he glanced over at the kid whose hair should have been blonde, whose eyes should be blue, who _shouldn't_ be that skinny, who...who'd been kidnapped.

Wilbur turned into the hospital, going directly to the emergency room. He parked his car, not really caring that it was slightly askew, and dragged Tommy out, mostly carrying him as the kid was still unconscious.

_Please don't lose too much blood_ , Wilbur prayed. He had no idea the extent of Tommy's injuries.

The nurse lady looked up from her desk, her eyes going wide. She jumped up, hitting a call button on the desk. "What - what happened?"

"Shot," Wilbur grunted, as two doctors, one female and the other male, rushed over with a gurney and took Tommy from him. "I don't know what else."

He watched as they raced Tommy to an operating room, or wherever else they were going.

"You a family member?" the desk lady asked calmly.

He let out a shaky breath. "No. No...uh, his family...is dead." Except for his uncle, wherever he was.

"What's his name?"

"Tommy - I mean Tom. Tom Jennings." Wilbur hurried to clarify. "Yeah, the same one that went missing. He knocked on my door after I heard gunshots in my neighborhood."

"The Tom Jennings that went missing on November twentieth, back in 2020?" the desk lady said, raising an eyebrow.

"Yes," Wilbur said.

The desk lady reached for her phone. "I'm going to need to make a call. You can sit down in one of the chairs." She waved flippantly to the many benches and seats throughout the waiting room.

Wilbur sat down, pulling out his phone, and wincing at the number of notifications.  
  
  


**_Twitter: MC Championships_**

_In a last-minute change, WilburSoot will be switched with_

_Skeppy. Sorry for the last-minute changes, and have a great_

_Minecraft Championship!_  
  
  


His heart dropped when he saw what Techno had texted him. Of course, Techno's first thought would be to go to... _that_.   
  
  


**_Technoblade_**

_What happened_

_Please answer_

_Please_  
  
  


**_Wilbur_**

_It's complicated._

_Something happened_

_I'll explain later, but I'm fine_  
  
  


**_Technoblade_**

_what happened?_  
  
  


Wilbur was about to respond, when a doctor called out. "Sir?"  
  
  


He looked up. "Yes?"

_Please don't be dead._

"Tom...Jennings made it. He's stabilized and awake. Normally, we wouldn't allow anyone but his family to speak to him, but because of the situation..." the doctor trailed off.

Wilbur stood up. "Yes. Yes, I'll go talk to him."

The doctor led him down the hallway to one of the many rooms. Wilbur breathed a sigh of relief when he saw Tommy's head propped up on the bed, his shirt stripped off, and a massive bandage covering his body. His arm was hooked up to an IV, and there were dark circles below his eyes that Wilbur hadn't seen previously. He also looked insanely scrawny, and there were a few scars and bruises that looked pretty bad and made Wilbur wince.

"You gonna stare at me, or are you coming in?" Tommy chuckled.

Wilbur rolled his eyes. "Oh, shut up, Tommy."

Tommy's smile faded for a brief second before it came back. "What were the chances that I would knock on your door?"

_The same chances that you probably got kidnapped_.

Wilbur bit back the answer as the doctor left him, sitting down on the chair next to the bed. "Pretty low." He saw Tommy grin at him, and realized his eyes were blue again. "Were you wearing contacts?"

"I was supposed to be going to the airport," Tommy said after a moment. "Saudi Arabia." Wilbur's heart dropped. They could've lost Tommy forever. "My...captor made me wear brown contacts. And dye my hair brown." He ran his hand that didn't have a needle sticking to its attached arm through his hair. "I don't like it."

"Yeah, me neither."

Tommy's eyes went to Wilbur's phone. "Who's texting you?"

Wilbur looked down at his lock screen.  
  
  


**_Technoblade_**

_Dude, seriously, what's going on_

_I can't lose you too_

_Not like I did Tommy_

_Please respond_  
  
  


He sighed. "Technoblade."

Tommy's eyes lit up. " _Technoblade_?"

Wilbur grinned. "Yeah, I'm supposed to be doing Minecraft Championships right now. Instead, I'm with you at the hospital."

He expected Tommy to hit him with a comeback. Instead, the kid's face just dropped. "Sorry," he muttered.

Wilbur rushed to fix his mistake. "No, no, I was joking." He hesitated. "Do you want to...jump into a call with Techno and the rest?"

"That means that the stream chat would hear me, right?" Tommy said after a second.

"Yeah," Wilbur replied. "It's fine if you don't, I understand why you'd need a bit of time."

"No, no," Tommy quickly said. "Please...I want to talk to other people." He smiled sadly. "It'd feel normal."

Wilbur smiled back as he opened the Discord app. Skeppy, Technoblade, George, and Dream were in it. "Hello?"

"WILBUR!" came Dream's annoyed voice. "What happened?"

Wilbur coughed awkwardly, glancing over at Tommy, who was smiling genuinely. It made him feel better. "Something important came up."

"Thanks for giving me your place, dude," Skeppy said.

"Not a problem," Wilbur said.

"Wilbur, seriously, what's going on?" Techno said in his monotone voice.

Wilbur saw Tommy perk up at the voice of his hero.

"Hello, Technoblade," the boy said in a much calmer voice than normal.


	7. Seven

**_~Tommy's POV~_ ** **| February 20th, 2021**  
  
  


He was out. He was free.

He heard Techno's monotone voice come from the speakers of Wilbur's phone. _Wilbur._ He'd knocked on _WilburSoot's_ door. What were the chances of that? He'd said as much.

He felt happiness in every inch of his body. Wilbur would help him. Would protect him from his uncle. Sure, he was in the hospital, but the nice nurse woman had given him some painkillers to help with his shoulders.

"Hello, Technoblade," he said in a voice that was far calmer than when he usually uttered those words.

There was silence.

"Tommy?" Techno asked, sounding surprised, awe in his voice. 

"Yes, it's me," Tommy said happily, as Wilbur held the phone between them. "I knocked on _Wilbur's_ door. Can you believe it?"

"I can," Techno said shortly, and there was a note of _something_ in his voice. "Chat's going crazy."

"So is mine," Dream said after a moment. "I didn't know you were...alive, Tommy."

"Ayyyy, Dream," Tommy said happily. His other hero. Who luckily had a less monotone voice than Technoblade. "Yeah. I escaped like twenty minutes ago." He hesitated. "Are you winning Minecraft Championships?"

"It just started, Tommy," Techno said dryly. "We're picking the first game right now."

* * *

**_~Techno's POV~_ ** **| February 20th, 2021**  
  
  


He heard Tommy's voice, but he couldn't believe it. No way. There was no possible way that Tommy had knocked on Wilbur's door after he'd escaped from wherever he'd been. No. Way.

His chat was going crazy. Techno's hands were shaking; he couldn't concentrate. He couldn't concentrate enough to try to win Minecraft Championships. He sounded far calmer than he felt. He felt like he was going to implode. Tommy. Tommy was _alive_.  
  
  


_< Technoblade> _can we pause real quick

< _[ADMIN] Noxite > _why?

_< Technoblade> _I'm talking to Tommy rn

_< [ADMIN] Noxite> _!!!

_< Ph1lzA> _are you serious?

_< Technoblade> _check your stream chats, they're probably 

mentioning it  
  
  


He felt a bit bad about releasing Tommy's secret, but the boy had already (probably) agreed to jump on a call knowing that Techno was streaming. The secret was already out. Sure enough, Noxite paused the Championships, to the dismay of some other people...but most were curious.

"Are you...okay?" he asked hesitantly.

"I got shot," came the boy's bright voice. Techno's eyes went wide. Tommy had gotten _shot_? "But I'm fine."

"He's on painkillers," Wilbur said.

Techno realized why Wilbur had left, then. He forgave him. This was definitely more important than Minecraft Championships.

"The others want us all to jump into a call with them," George said suddenly. "And...you know, Tommy."

"Are you okay with that, Tommy?" Techno heard Wilbur say.

"Yeah! I get more clout!"

He grinned despite the situation. That was _purely_ Tommy. "Trust me, nerd, you have more than enough clout." He had one and a half million subscribers on Youtube, nearing Techno himself, though Techno didn't really mind. There was a pause as he disconnected and joined the chat with the other thirty people waiting, including Noxite. There was a pause as Wilbur joined as well.

"What is happening?" Grian demanded through the chat. "Are you really talking to Tommy?"

"Yeah, Techno, what's going on?" Sapnap asked. "We had to pause Minecraft Championships. If this is a prank..."

"It's not," Techno was quick to say, glancing over at his stream chat. It was _completely_ crazy.

"Well, why isn't he in the call?" the admin, Noxite, demanded.

"I'm in the hospital, I don't _have_ a phone," Tommy snorted.

There was a bit of silence.

"TOMMY?"

" _Tommy?_!"

"IS IT REALLY YOU?"

"Everyone _shut up_ ," Wilbur said harshly over the noises. "We're in the hospital. He was shot. Please be a bit quieter."

Another bout of silence.

"YOU WERE SHOT?"

" _Excuse_ me?"

"Are you okay?"

"I'm fine, jeez," Tommy grumbled. "Just shot once. But I'm fine. Do you know what's not fine? My viewership. Go subscribe to me on Youtube and follow me on Twitch - " He cut off abruptly. It sounded like Wilbur had slapped him.

Techno snorted; he couldn't help himself. Typical Tommy. "Taking advantage of the situation?"

"Of course!" Tommy was quick to respond. "I have like, fifteen million worth of subscribers streaming right now, all listening to _me_. It would be a shame not to take advantage of all that."

Techno was silent. "No, seriously, are you alright?"

"I've been better," Tommy replied. "Just go win Minecraft Championships or something. Wait - no, unblock me on Twitter."

Techno grinned as he exited the call. "Already done, nerd."


	8. Eight

**_~Tommy's POV~_ ** **| February 20th, 2020**  
  
  


Tommy heared Wilbur say something about needing to talk to the doctors as he ended the call, smiling. "Well. Everyone knows you're alive again."

Tommy sighed. "I guess."

"What's wrong?" Wilbur asked softly.

"I...I just, I don't know where I'm going to go," Tommy said. "I don't have any family, and I'm a minor. I'm going to be thrown back into the foster care system."

"I'm so sorry," Wilbur said gently. "I'll make sure they let you keep your computer."

Tommy grinned. And then looked up as a nurse opened the door.

"Your family is here to see you," the nurse said.

Tommy's eyes fell open, looking at Wilbur. They were dead. He'd saw their bodies. "What?"

"Your uncle," she clarified, moving to close the door as she looked at Wilbur. "I'm going to have to ask you to leave, please."

"NO!" Tommy screamed. "No! No, he can't come to see me."

"Tom - " the nurse said.

"I'm the patient, and _I_ get to choose who gets to visit me!" Tommy demanded. "My uncle - " He shuddered. " - no. Don't let him in. In fact, call the police."

The nurse looked at him, confused. "Fine. I won't let him see you. But I'm not calling the police." She shut the door.

Wilbur turned to Tommy, frowning. "What's going on?"

Tommy was shaking, feeling cold despite the heater in the corner of the room. He couldn't let his uncle take him back. No. No, his uncle would kill him. He should never have come to the hospital. "My uncle..." he gulped. "He's the one who kidnapped me."

Wilbur's jaw dropped. " _Seriously_?!"

"Yes!" Tommy wailed, squeezing his eyes shut. "Please don't let him come see me. Call the police."

Wilbur stared at him. "Are - are you sure?"

"YES!" Tommy said at the top of his voice. He saw nurses and doctors give him odd looks as they passed by his room. He lowered his voice. "Yes. Please."

Wilbur nodded and whipped out his phone.

9 - 1 - 1.

He put his phone up to his ear. "Yes, it's an emergency. There's a kidnapper here. Yeah, have you heard of Tom Jennings? He's here in the emergency room. His uncle is the one who kidnapped him." Wilbur paused, and Tommy released a breath he didn't realize he'd been holding. "Yeah. I'm sure." Wilbur rattled off the hospital name. "He's trying to see Tommy. Tom," he corrected himself. "Hurry, please."

Wilbur ended the call, looking over at Tommy. "They're coming to arrest your uncle."

Tommy grinned widely. "Good. He deserves it." He glanced around, making sure nobody was listening. "He was also the one...that killed my parents."

Wilbur's eyes widened. "Tommy, I'm so sorry."

"It's okay," Tommy said, his throat constricting. "It's...I've known about it for quite a while. The room I was in...well, I was alone." Wilbur looked saddened by this. "There was nothing to do, really, except think. And draw. I drew a lot too. But I also thought a lot. About...you know. What could happen. How I could escape."

"Why didn't you?" Wilbur asked softly.

Tommy snorted. He shifted his leg and pointed at the scar there. "I _tried_. When I failed, I ended up with a really deep knife wound, there. My uncle made me stitch it up with a sewing needle and some thread while he watched."

"Sounds horrible." Wilbur tried to sound nonchalant about it, but Tommy could tell he really was appalled, and trying not to scare Tommy.

"That's why I haven't tried since," he explained. "Until he told me we had a catch a plane to Saudi Arabia, and I couldn't do it, because I knew I wasn't coming back. So I jumped out of the car window and I ran. And he shot me, but I kept running, and then I knocked on your door...and I must've blacked out, because I woke up and a nurse was telling me she'd pulled the bullet out of my back and that some..." He trailed off. " _And I quote_ , 'cute guy' with brown hair and brown eyes brought me in. Of course, whenever I'm streaming and you're a part of it, chat is always talking about how cute you are. And that they want to marry you." Wilbur laughed. "So I assumed it was you, and it was."

"Why am I known as the cute guy?" Wilbur groaned.

"Hey," Tommy pointed out. "At least you're not known as the 'annoying teenager who can't sing at all.'." Courtesy of Akinator, that was.

"They're not wrong," Wilbur said.

"Shut up!" Tommy said, reaching over with his left hand and shoving Wilbur's shoulder.

"Actually, Akinator doesn't say that anymore," Wilbur said. "It says 'Is your character a kidnapped teenager from Britain who is associated with apples'."

"Ah," Tommy said with a small gulp. "Well, did I at least get clout from it?"

He expected Wilbur to tease him. He certainly didn't expect what happened next. Wilbur opened YouTube and typed in his channel name. Contrary to popular belief, he was subscribed to the channel -

Wait.

"I HAVE ONE POINT FIVE MILLION SUBSCRIBERS?" Tommy screeched.

Wilbur nearly dropped his phone, fumbling for it. "Calm down, Tommy."

"I WILL NOT CALM DOWN!" Tommy nearly screamed, doing a happy dance in place. "THIS IS VERY POGCHAMP! I'D SAY POG IN THE CHAT, BUT I'M NOT STREAMING!" He had over a _million_ subscribers. A _million_!

A nurse opened the door, glaring at Tommy over his glasses. "Please be quieter, Tom," he said. "It's nearly nine at night, and patients are trying to sleep."

"I have one million subscribers," Tommy told the nurse with a happy grin. "I've gotta go tell my - " He cut himself off.

His mum. Who he couldn't tell anymore, because his uncle had killed her.

"You have another visitor," the nurse sighed.

"I don't want to see my - "

"TOMMY!"

Tommy felt a grin appear on his face as a young freckled-faced boy pushed his way into his room. "TUBBO, MY MAN!"

"Please be quieter, or I'm going to ask everyone to leave," the nurse warned sharply.

"Yeah, yeah," Tommy told him. The nurse sighed and left.

Tubbo smiled as he sat down in a chair next to Wilbur. "Pigicial texted me and said that you'd popped up turning the Minecraft Championships live stream. He told me the hospital name, and I drove here. I opened the stream just in time to hear you tell everyone to subscribe to your YouTube channel and follow you on Twitch. Then Wilbur slapped you."

Tommy held back a smirk. "Whatttt? That doesn't seem like something I would do, Tubbo."

"You can call me Toby," the boy offered. "That's my real name."

Tommy nodded. "Okay." He looked at Wilbur. "Anybody else coming that I should know of?"

"Well," Wilbur said. "George says he's coming tomorrow."

"GeorgeNotFound?"

"Yeah."

"POGGERS!"

"Shut up, Tommy," Tubbo - _Toby_ \- hissed.

"Right, sorry. Anybody else, Wilbur?"

"Uh, Finn. Or Rose. You know."

"You mean the guy who swears he's not transgender, but dresses up in women's clothes and puts on makeup, hair, and tucking underwear?" Tommy questioned.

"Yeah. That's the one. He’s supposed to come tomorrow as well.”

"Gee, I didn't know I was famous," Tommy said proudly.

"People might not pretend to care, Tommy, but they do," Wilbur told him truthfully. "You're only fifteen, and your parents were killed - " Tommy winced. " - and you were kidnapped. Of course, people care."

"Well, now I just feel bad," Tommy muttered.

Toby smiled at him. "Don't feel bad, Tommy. You deserve all the good things in the future."


	9. Nine

**_~Techno's POV~_ ** **|** ******February 21st, 2020**  
  
  


He'd already bought plane tickets before MC Championships had started back up.

The moment it ended - he had been too nervous to focus like normal, and they'd gotten third place, but he didn't really care - he'd started packing and ended his stream early, to the dismay of his fans. George had logged off as well, but Dream and Skeppy had stayed to talk a bit with the other contestants.

And now it was nearly three in the morning, and he had a six-hour flight ahead of him.

Techno knew that Tommy was bound for a tough life ahead of him. He was going to have to cope with the loss of his parents - fully - and he was a young kid that had been kidnapped. Sure, he sounded fine, but Techno didn't really believe that.

Which is why he was flying out.

* * *

**_~Tommy's POV~_ ** **| February 21st, 2020**  
  
  


He'd fallen asleep before the police had arrived, and when he woke up the next morning, Toby had been _literally_ blockading the door to try to stop two uniformed officers from barging in.

"He's trying to sleep, for heaven's sake!" the brown-haired boy hissed, not even noticing that Tommy was now awake. "He was shot! Show some respect, man!"

"He's awake now, so I don't see why this is necessary," the male officer said dryly.

Toby turned around. "OH! Hey, Tommy!"

He winced as he sat up. "Ow. My _shoulder_." Tommy glanced around. "Hey, where's Wilbur?"

"At the - he's getting something," Toby said flippantly. "George is supposed to be here in about thirty minutes as well." He rounded on the officers. "I thought you arrested his uncle! What are you doing bothering Tommy right now?"

"We did," the female officer piped up. "And we believed Mr. Jennings until his uncle provided papers saying that he was mentally unstable and whoever his real kidnapper was must've brainwashed him."

Tommy's eyes nearly fell out of his head. "EXCUSE ME?"

"Shh," Toby said. He turned back to the officers. "On another note... WHAT THE HELL - "

"I AM MENTALLY STABLE!" Tommy screamed, his hands hurting from clenching the blankets for so long. "Those papers are false."

"What's going on here?" That was Wilbur's voice.

The officers moved aside to show a tall man with dirty blonde hair and glasses glaring at them as he walked into the room. Wilbur followed him, a small grin on his face, looking proud of himself. Tommy frowned. It was like he _recognized_ the man, but he didn't, at the same time.

"The nerd seems mentally stable to me," the man said. He definitely recognized that sarcastic monotone voice.

Tommy's mouth fell open. " _Technoblade_?"

"Techno," the man corrected. "But yes." He glared at the two policemen. "What's this about Tommy not being mentally unstable?"

"He accused his uncle of kidnapping him," the male officer said, sounding slightly disturbed. Tommy muffled a laugh. It was Techno - no, Techno's - monotone voice that did that. "There are papers proving - "

"Forged," Tommy said flippantly. "They're _forged_."

"Do you have any proof?" the female officer asked curiously. "That he was keeping you?"

"Of course I do," Tommy said. "Actually, no. I don't know. It's not like there were any security cameras around." He racked his brain for anything, but nothing came.

"Hey," Wilbur said gently, when he saw the freak-out Tommy was about to have. "What about the room he kept you in?"

"That wouldn't prove anything - " the male officer said angrily.

"Yes, it _would_ ," Tommy said, relief filling him. "In his house, there should be a secret door leading to a basement. That's where I was kept. There should be enough proof in there."

"That would require a search warrant," the female officer pointed out.

"Then _get_ one," Techno hissed. "If Tommy says that his uncle is the one that kidnapped him, then his uncle is the one that kidnapped him."

"He has a history of manipulation and lying," the male officer said.

"THAT WAS IN MINECRAFT!" Tommy all but screamed. Very loudly. "MY UNCLE TRIED TO KILL ME!" Toby placed a hand on Tommy's shoulder to calm him.

The officers remained silent at that.

* * *

**_~Techno's POV~ February 21st, 2020_ **

"I'll stay," the young kid, Toby, offered when the doctors said they couldn't release Tommy yet, even to get proof that his uncle had kidnapped him. Internally, Techno shook with anger. Apparently, the police were still keeping Tommy's uncle in jail, but he wasn't handcuffed or anything. Tommy's _uncle_ had kidnapped him. They hadn't even suspected.

Techno believed Tommy when he said that his uncle had kidnapped him, and not just because the fifteen-year-old was his friend. Techno had wanted to major in psychology - he'd learned a few things about tone, and how Tommy's widened just a bit, his voice shaking the smallest bit when they mentioned his uncle.

"You can't come," the male officer argued.

"We're coming," Wilbur said with finality. The female officer elbowed her counterpart to shut him up, and then they left to get a warrant to search Tommy's uncle's house.

Techno said goodbye to the blonde-haired boy in the hospital bed, leaving just in time for the nurse to come in and demand a change of bandages and some more painkillers for the gunshot wound in Tommy's shoulder.

Techno was surprised that Tommy was still sane after what he'd been through. Many people weren't. Yet the boy was still able to joke around and laugh, even if he screamed at the officers. Which they deserved. _Mentally unstable_? 

Chaotic, maybe. Clout chaser, definitely. But mentally unstable? No. Tommy had his priorities, and the only one mentally unstable here was Techno. And in America...definitely Dream. Both of them had gone crazy during the eighth Minecraft Championship and had memorized the Build Mart blocks for hours. Not to mention the Potato War.

The two officers, and Wilbur and Techno, to the dismay of the male officer, had secured a warrant to search Tommy's uncle's house.

Techno looked up at the one-story house in a neighborhood that seemed normal. Everything seemed normal. There weren't bars in the windows, and the grass was well-kept, the flowers and trees trimmed to perfection.

The female officer unlocked the door.

"Don't break anything," the male officer sneered.

Techno rolled his eyes. Tommy's uncle definitely deserved his things being broken, but he knew he would be removed from the vicinity if he broke stuff before they found proof.

"He said a basement," Wilbur said, heading for the stairs leading to the downstairs area. The officers split up, but Techno and Wilbur headed down the stairs.

It was a game room. A pool table, a table tennis table...a fifty-inch flat-screened TV.

"There's a secret door here somewhere," Techno said. He went directly to the walls, tapping it with his fingers, looking for a hollow spot. Wilbur began looking under furniture, behind curtains, even lifting up the carpet.

"What did I say about touching?"

Techno whirled to face the male officer, who was glaring at him. "I'm just trying to help my friend, dude. I don't see what your problem is."

"He's a manipulative liar," the policeman sneered. "He's too young to know what he's talking about."

Techno shook with the effort of trying not to rush the police officer.

_He's too young to know what he's talking about._

He knew that saying often enough. Tommy was fifteen, nearly sixteen...and fifteen-year-olds weren't blind. Techno was pretty sure that Tommy could see well enough to know who'd kidnapped him. He opened his mouth to say something - he didn't really know what, but it would've been nasty if Wilbur hadn't spoken first.

"I found something."

Techno whirled to find Wilbur struggling for a piece of flooring under a carpet. He hurried over and helped Wilbur lift it up, to reveal another set of stairs. He glared at the officer over his shoulder as he rushed down it.

It was a library.

Techno's heart dropped.

"See? Tom _is_ a liar. You would do better to make friends who aren't people looking for attention."

Wilbur whirled on the officer, anger evident in his eyes, and Techno prayed he wouldn't attack the man, physically, at least. He was fine with verbal abuse.

Something was tugging Techno's gut, and he headed over to the bookshelf. 

It was a random array of books, running from epic fantasy to military history. But Techno didn't really care what the books were. The corner bookshelf seemed...off, a gap between the two corners. As if something was behind it. Techno shoved the bookshelf with all his might, and to his surprise, it slid into the corner cavity. "Wilbur!" he called out.

He was very glad he did because it looked like Wilbur would've attacked the male officer.

Behind the bookshelf was a metal door, with what looked like a deadbolt in place. Techno got the sinking feeling that this was where Tommy had been for nearly three months.

"It's okay," Wilbur muttered, seeing Techno's stress. "He's not here anymore. We can put his captor in jail forever."

"You found something!" the female officer said happily. Techno liked her a lot better than the male officer.

With shaking hands, Techno opened the heavy metal door, glad that it was open.

It was a grew concrete room perhaps ten feet tall, with metal bars covering the light. A small mattress and a threadbare mattress sat against the wall, and pencils and notebooks were everywhere. 

But that wasn't what made Techno instantly realize that it was Tommy who had been here.

There was a giant white mural on the wall - hundreds of individual papers held to the wall by glue, or some other sticky substance, and a painstakingly perfect pencil drawing on top.

"There's nothing here," the male officer said.

"I'm quite sick of you, you know," the female officer shot back. "The fact that he _has_ a room like this is unnerving, even if there's no proof that this is where Tom Jennings was held."

"It's proof," Techno said roughly, staring at the wall. Wilbur was quiet beside him.

"It's a mural," the male police officer retorted.

"Yeah," Techno said. "And I'm in it." He stalked up to it and reached out a hand to brush the art of his Minecraft skin - in human form, with light hair and a nasty grin on his face, a diamond sword tossed over his shoulder.

"You look nothing like that."

"It's our Minecraft skins," Wilbur said, stepping up to Techno, and touching the paper where he was drawn with guitar and a beanie on Techno's right. Phil with his bucket hat was on his left, completing Sleepy Boys Inc. He could see the Dream Team, the...muffins - Skeppy, Badboyhalo, and a6d - he could see many people, including Tubbo, Pigicial, TimeDeo, and others that made his heart hurt. "It's either terrifying or sad that he drew us."

"What is this about Minecraft?" the male police officer said, sounding outraged. "Those people aren't you."

"Wait," the female police officer said, squinting at Wilbur. "Wait." She turned back to the wall. "Those look like the YouTuber art that my daughter likes drawing."

Hope filled Techno.

"That's _you_?" the female officer gasped.

"Yeah, I'm Technoblade," Techno said.

"Wilbur Soot," Wilbur said. "And Tommy is TommyInnit."

"Yeah, we have all the proof we need," the female officer said.

"No, we _don't_ ," the male officer snarled.

"They're famous YouTubers!" the female officer shot back. "Tom Jennings - or TommyInnit - was kidnapped. I remember my daughter talking about how the internet was in an uproar about it, but I never pieced it together. She watches you in MC Championships. She talked about it at breakfast this morning, about how you guys got third place and that TommyInnit spoke over Discord, but I never pieced it together."

Techno smiled at her. "It wasn't my best moment."

"Makes sense," the female officer said, sounding infinitely more friendly. "I'm Becky."

"Techno," he said, taking her outstretched hand. "And this is Wilbur."


	10. Ten

**_~Tommy's POV~_ | March 2nd, 2021**

Tommy turned his head and stared at the people in the crowd. Techno smiled at him, and Wilbur waved. Toby saluted him next to his parents.

He couldn't believe he was doing this.

He ignored the glare of his uncle at the table on the left side of the courtroom.

He was doing this.

His uncle would go to jail.

He would be free.

* * *

**_~Tommy's POV~_ | March 2nd, 2021**

Tommy hugged Techno as hard as he could possibly hug him, tears streaming down his face. "Thank you. Thank you so much. For everything."

"I wouldn't do anything less," the man laughed, ruffling Tommy's hair gently. "I'm glad he's going to jail. He deserves it."

Techno and the others had gotten enough money to pay for his lawyer so they could send his uncle to jail the _real_ way. They had enough proof, they just needed someone that they could trust to not be paid off by his uncle.

And with everyone's help, they'd sentenced his uncle to jail on two counts of murder, one count of kidnapping, and one count of attempted murder.

He was going away for life.

Tommy wiped the tears away, and Techno handed him a box. He frowned at it.

"Since your uncle broke your phone, I assumed you needed a new one," he said.

Tommy gaped at him. "You _didn't_."

"It's attached to my phone bill," Techno shrugged. "We get six people for free and we have four. It wasn't anything. Just...keep in touch, alright?"

Tommy swallowed heavily.

"I'm sure the foster care system won't treat you so bad," Toby said convincingly. "Maybe they'll let you stream."

His computer was in storage space, along with all the furniture and everything from his parents' house. The money that his parents had had was to be opened when he was eighteen, nearly two years, and one month away. "Maybe."

"Just...if you need something, call, all right?" Techno said.

"Only if you unblock me on Twitter."

Techno rolled his eyes at Tommy. "I already said I did that, nerd."

Tommy reached forward and hugged Techno again. "I...thank you." He looked over at Wilbur. "All of you."

* * *

**_~Tommy's POV~_ | April 9th, 2021**

_Happy 16th birthday,_ he told himself glumly. _You could drive if you had a car._

He'd been bouncing from a temporary house to a temporary house for weeks and weeks. No one seemed to want him. His computer was still in the storage area, waiting to be unpackaged. He posted on Twitter and commented on videos and watched live streams...but even though he wanted to stream himself, to have fun like the rest of his friends, he really couldn't.

Tommy bent down and touched the graves of his mother and father. "Miss you, Mum and Dad," he said, swallowing the lump in his throat as tears threatened to overtake him.

"Tom!" his caseworker said from behind the fence of the graveyard.

He looked up. "What?"

His caseworker waved a letter. "Someone adopted you!"

Tommy's jaw fell _open_. "SERIOUSLY?!"

His caseworker rushed to him, and Tommy hugged him.

"Happy birthday, kid," his caseworker laughed. "You're going to America."

* * *

**~Techno's POV~** **| April 9th, 2021**

**_annoying nerd_ **

TECHNO I GOT ADOPTED

Techno sat up, a bright smile appearing on his face. It was early in the morning, maybe seven, but he was awake. He'd missed Tommy playing Minecraft with him and the others.

**_Techno_never_dies_ **

Whoever did that is going to regret it

**_annoying nerd_ **

You're dumb and stupid, you know that?

**_Techno_never_dies_ **

Evidently not. Who did it?

**_annoying nerd_ **

I dunno, my caseworker won't tell me. But it's in California! I get

to see you!

**_Techno_never_dies_ **

...yay

**_annoying nerd_ **

oh shut up

I'm landing in around eight hours

bye bitch

Techno hid a secret smile.

* * *

**_~Tommy's POV~_ | April 9th, 2021**

Technically, it was still his birthday, even though it had been around three in the afternoon when he'd left, and eight hours later, it was _still 3 pm._

Very confusing.

His caseworker had hugged him one last time, as Tommy - after texting Techno and a few others, and after saying goodbye to Wilbur and Toby - had boarded the plane.

His computer and luggage were safely aboard. They'd let him bring it, along with some other keepsakes that he'd wanted.

He was getting adopted.

As Tommy got off the plane, and stepped into the hot California air - even in April, it was absolutely _boiling_ for some reason - he wondered who had adopted him.

In his hand, he clutched the letter his caseworker had received about his adoption. Most people didn't adopt kids his age because they were troublesome. Not only did he get adopted, but he also got to go to America.

It said that they would be waiting for him, in the letter. There were no details other than that.

Tommy glanced around, clutching his carry-on. Was he supposed to recognize someone -

 _Wait_.

"Techno!" he squealed, running forward and hugging him. "I didn't know you'd be waiting!"

Techno laughed. "Of course I am."

Tommy stepped back, looking around. "Now I need to find who adopted me." Techno didn't answer. Tommy turned back to his friend with a confused look. "Aren't you going to help me?"

"I don't _need_ to help you, Tommy," Techno said. He pointed out two people who were waving at them. "Meet my parents. And yours, now." He ruffled Tommy's hair. "Happy birthday, loser. And welcome to the family."

Tommy felt like he was going to faint.

* * *

**_~Tommy's POV~_ | April 24th, 2021**

When asked about who had adopted him, specifically to his friends - he kind of felt bad lying to them, but it was supposed to be a surprise - he'd merely said it was a nice family who had allowed him the use of his computer. They'd asked him if he was going to stream, and he's said not yet.

Not until today.

Tommy hid a grin on the screen as their plan came into motion, with the help of Noxcrew, of course.

**_Twitter - Minecraft Championships_ **

_In a last-minute change, Skeppy will be swapped with_ _TommyInnit, who is returning to Minecraft Championships after_ _a few personal problems have been resolved. This was totally not planned beforehand by the Noxcrew ;)_

Skeppy texted him a winky face as well - he'd known about this all along, and had had something to do this Minecraft Championships, so hadn't been able to attend. They'd all known from the beginning that Tommy was supposed to take Skeppy's place - they meaning Tommy and Techno.

Wilbur and Phil were texting him furiously, as were a bunch of other people, including Toby.

He glanced up at his gold play button, delivered after all this time from YouTube, and then down at his computer screen. Techno stuck his head into his room. "You going to start streaming? My chat is already going crazy."

Tommy made a shooing motion. "Yes. Get out."

Techno rolled his eyes but went back into his room across the hall, closing the door behind him.

Tommy took a deep breath, and turned on his facecam, adjusting his microphone one last time.

He turned on his stream.

Immediately, more than fifty-thousand viewers flooded into his channel. He resisted gaping openly. Techno had told him it would happen.

"SURPRISE!" he yelled. "I'M TEAMING WITH TECHNO, WILBUR, AND PHIL!"

* * *

**_~Techno's POV~_ | April 24th, 2021**

"Hey, if we win, I'll do a face cam at the end of the stream."

* * *

**_~Tommy's POV~_ | April 24th, 2021**

He'd been practicing for weeks, trying to get better. He'd been practicing doing parkour, PVP, speed building, all with help from Techno.

He'd told his chat that something had come up and he'd closed his stream _directly_ after they'd won MC Championships. He was sure they'd be angry - sure enough, they'd flooded Techno's chat.

He stepped into Techno's room.

"Yeah, yeah, I gotta do a face reveal," his _older brother_ said, pretending to sound down. "Oh, you want to know what happened to Tommy? Don't worry, he's fine."

Tommy sat down in a chair next to Techno, whose hand neared the facecam button. He nodded once.

Techno pressed it, unplugging his headphones so they could all hear Discord.

"WHAT THE HELL - " Wilbur said after a brief pause.

"I know, right?" Techno groaned. "My parents were forced to adopt this nerd." Tommy knew for a fact that Techno had been the one to suggest it.

"I'M PART OF THE PIG FAMILY!" Tommy screamed.

"Shut up, loser."

"So, you two are brothers, now?" Phil asked curiously.

"Yes," Tommy said. " _Technoblade_ is my brother."

"No, I'm not," Techno said, holding up his hands. "I was corralled into doing this, he's holding me hostage - " He shot a smirk at Tommy, who rolled his eyes.

Stream chat was going absolutely bonkers. Techno had hit a record of nearly _two hundred thousand_ viewers, more still coming in as the news hit the other streamers.

Dream joined the channel.

"Why would you ever want _him_ to be a part of your family?" the speedrunner joked.

"Because he deserves a family," Techno said honestly, shutting up the jokes. "Seriously."

Tommy smiled. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Short and sweet <3

**Works inspired by this one:**

  * [I am your only family](https://archiveofourown.org/works/27081697) by [YasminTheSpiritSinger](https://archiveofourown.org/users/YasminTheSpiritSinger/pseuds/YasminTheSpiritSinger)




End file.
